Days of Thunder (1990)

A movie filled with nothing but left turns

I've lived in the south since I was 9 years old and noticed immediately upon moving here that the locals have a fanatical love of NASCAR. I never really did connect with the sport though. But this is the south, and most folks here make it a point to watch NASCAR often. I remember watching Days of Thunder when it first came out on VHS and remember thinking that it was impressive on a Surround Sound setup, but I honestly didn't remember that much else about it, and that's largely because there's not much to it.

The movie, in a nutshell, chronicles the rise of up and coming rookie driver Cole Trickle, played by Tom Cruise. Cole just got bumped from his previous racing job due to some fiasco involving his father, and wants to eventually work his way up to Indy racing, and uses stock car racing as the best path to that goal. He enlists the help of Robert Duvall, a legendary crew chief who recently retired, to garner enough wins to proceed with his ultimate plans. The movie is something of a retread (pun intended) of Top Gun, as others have noted, in that the main character is a cocky, headstrong pilot of a vehicle who has a rivalry with a fellow pilot/driver (Michael Rooker in this case, Iceman in "Top Gun"), suffers an accident (a big crash in this film, F-14 crash in "Top Gun"), goes through a long period of doubt, but comes out on top in the end. And that's before you even get to the Kelly McGillis/Nicole Kidman parallels. Essentially this is a very formulaic movie plot in which the names and vehicles are changed around a bit but not much else. Thankfully they omitted the obligatory beach volleyball scene with Cole Trickle spiking Russ Wheeler in his big smug face.

The acting is pretty ho-hum. Cruise plays a straight out of the archtype handbook rendition of the youthful, brash, hot shot while Duvall covers the older, more sagely guiding force. I really like Robert Duvall and I think he stood head and shoulders above the others acting-wise. He brings a great deal of realism to the characters he portrays on screen and he nails this part perfectly to the point where you'd swear his character actually did build stock cars and manage pit crews for a living.

One of the most annoying aspects of the film are the names it gives to various drivers..."Cole Trickle", "Russ Wheeler", and "Rowdy Burns", as prime examples. You can almost see the producers sitting around a conference table and trying to decide on a name that encompassed the evocative image of the typical Southern standout racecar driver. One can easily think of additional names they could have used that fit this formula: Hoss Firewall, Jackson Ridge, Jet Burleson, etc. There's the inclusion of real NASCAR drivers in the movie like "King" Richard Petty and others to help introduce realism into the movie, and here it somewhat succeeds. The races look real and one can imagine the rush it must be to hold vehicles together that are largely ginormous engines strapped to four wheels with a steering wheel attached while moving at 200+ miles per hour.

"Days of Thunder" is basically a very mediocre movie with adequate acting and above average racing action. But it is just about the only modern Hollywood feature where you can take a glimpse into the fast paced life of the typical NASCAR driver. And for this reason you'll find it on a lot of NASCAR fans' DVD shelves. If you're interested in stock car racing (and a pre-botox Nicole Kidman) you'll likely enjoy the film. October 26, 2008

grrrrr... only english version

i live in colombia, i like very much this movie, but it doesn't have spanish subtitles. :( September 11, 2007

TOP GUN + Days of Thunder should be part of all movie collections!

This movie and Top Gun (Widescreen Special Collector's Edition) should be a part of all moviegoers' collection. Not only are they the pinnacle works of Tom Cruise, they incorporate a timeless theme -- speed.

I won't get into the awesomeness that surrounds Top Gun, but that same aura surrounds this movie as well. Starting off as a nobody but a reckless driver, Tom Cruise drives and performs better than any rookie. It is through this driving does he find it within himself a passion and he grows and matures like a caterpillar to a butterfly in a short 2 hours.

Awesome movie, 'nuff said. June 9, 2007

great movie

thank you for very fast delivery, movie playes great, will buy from again January 4, 2007

TOM'S CRUISIN

DAYS OF THUNDER is the racecar edition of TOP GUN, and as far as this type of movie goes, this one's okay...nothing spectacular. Cruise plays a rookie racecar driver who hooks up with racing legend Robert Duvall in hopes of dethroning champion Michael Rooker. An almost fatal crash leaves Cruise and Rooker with career-altering decisions, and also time for Cruise to fall in love with future wife/ex-wife Nicole Kidman, whom he met on this movie. A typical showdown ensues and the ending is appropriately fitting. Cruise is in his 80s blustery let me show you I can act stage; Duvall and Kidman are very good; Randy Quaid, Cary Elwes and John C. Reilly round out the cast and lend good support.
Cruise fans probably love this movie, for me it's just an average flick. November 25, 2006

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